•· Assisted non-English, limited-English, and bilingual students with language skills

Lincoln Heights Elementary School, Morristown, TN

2001-2002

Part-Time Migrant Teacher Assistant

Responsibilities:

•· Provided tutoring, homework assistance, and mentoring to migrant students

Bio

I was born in St. Louis, Missouri. My father is from the United States and my mother is from Costa Rica. I was raised in a bilingual household with one older sister and two younger brothers. Learning to speak both English and Spanish has benefited me greatly in my former positions within the Hamblen County School System. Perhaps the love of language I developed as a child influenced my dream was to become an elementary school teacher.

I have always enjoyed attending school. My father worked in industrial management positions as I grew up, so our family moved several times. Because of this, I had the opportunity to attend schools in Missouri, Texas, North Carolina, and Tennessee. I graduated from Jefferson County High School in 1995. I enjoyed singing in high school programs, working on the year book staff, and being in several clubs such as the Spanish club and FHA in high school. After high school, I attended Walters State Community College. I graduated in 1998 with an Associates Degree in General Science and Child Development.

Shortly after graduation at Walters State, I married Christopher Scott Helton. Scott was and still is an elementary school teacher in Hamblen County. He is currently teaching 4th grade at Russellville Elementary School. I began teaching in a preschool soon after we were married. Scott encouraged me to use my Spanish skills to help the many Hispanic students in the school system. I have had several different positions over the last 7 years in the Hamblen County School System. My first position was a part time Migrant Assistant at Lincoln Heights Elementary School, as well as a substitute for Lincoln Elementary, Lincoln Middle, and Hillcrest. The following year, I started out as a Migrant Assistant, and then was offered a full time position as a County-Wide ESL teacher assistant. I worked at the following schools: Lincoln Middle, Lincoln Heights Elementary, Witt, Meadowview, West View, East/West High School, and Hillcrest. During my summers, I worked as a bilingual teacher assistant for the at risk summer school programs at Lincoln Elementary and West Elementary. In 2003, I was hired as the full time ESL teacher assistant for Lincoln Heights Elementary. After a few years in ESL, I was moved to the new Preschool Program at Lincoln because I was the only teacher assistant that had a CDA (Associates Degree in Child Development). My last year at Lincoln, I was able to have the experience as the teacher assistant in the Special Education Transitional Kindergarten class. As an assistant at Lincoln, I also chose to work for several years in an after-school program sponsored by Douglas-Cherokee. I tutored the Hispanic and at-risk students after school. I consider these the most rewarding years of my life. After completing these assignments, I chose to complete my education degree. I graduated Tusculum College in December of 2008, and was able to work as an interim first grade teacher at Lincoln from February-May of 2009.

While my experience working in the school system was growing, so was my family. In 2002, I had my first and only child Erin Brooke Helton. She is now seven years old and is in 2nd grade at Russellville Primary School. My desire to see her receive the best education she can possibly have has encouraged me to work hard to be a great teacher.

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